Kin altruism appears to influence an individual’s evaluation of the reproductive decisions of other people. Playing the role of an older woman advising a younger woman about reproduction influenced female participants’ self-reported beliefs about the decision. Women randomly assigned to the group with the task of advising a daughter were more inclined to believe that the choice consistent with ...

Modernization theorists from Karl Marx to Daniel Bell have argued that economic development brings pervasive cultural changes. But others, from Max Weber to Samuel Huntington, have claimed that cultural values are an enduring and autonomous influence on society. We test the thesis that economic development is linked with systematic changes in basic values. Using data from the three waves of the...

OBJECTIVE To describe an approach and experience with fostering a culture of patient safety. METHODS (1) Organizational Change-The Department of Medicine established a patient safety committee (PSC) and charged it with reviewing adverse events. (2) Cultural Change-PSC sponsors and participants work to promote a culture of collaboration, study, learning, and prevention versus a culture of blam...

Group decision-making problem is a common and crucial human activity. By the characteristic of group decision making process, the model of multi-attribute group decision making (MAGDM) process based on evidence theory is proposed. The interacting process for MAGDM is analyzed, and the consensus analysis and the improving approach in group experts’ decision making based on similarity is given. B...

The ginseng industry has expanded rapidly in recent years. Asian and American ginseng are cultivated around the world. Ginseng products in various forms are increasingly popular, and its consumers are no longer limited to Asians. More knowledge is needed about the horticultural characteristics, cultural methods, disease control, drying and storage procedures, and technology for value-added prod...

People often cooperate with members of their own group, and discriminate against members of other groups. Previous research establishes that cultural groups can form endogenously, and that these groups demonstrate in-group favouritism. Given the presence of cultural groups, the previous literature argues that cultural evolution selects for groups that exhibit parochial altruism. The source of i...

Previous work on mathematical models of cultural evolution has mainly focused on the diffusion of simple cultural elements. However, a characteristic feature of human cultural evolution is the seemingly limitless appearance of new and increasingly complex cultural elements. Here, we develop a general modelling framework to study such cumulative processes, in which we assume that the appearance ...